Drinking Games Off Menu In Afl Booze Crackdown
The Age
Wednesday September 3, 2008
FOOTBALLERS will be warned not to play drinking games or initiate rookies by getting them drunk, under a new AFL alcohol policy to crack down on the game's booze culture.
Advice on how to avoid fights in pubs and get home safely has also been given to players from all 16 clubs ahead of the guidelines' launch in November.The policy aims to put an end to drunken violence and misbehaviour during social outings such as end-of-season "Mad Monday".The psychologist who helped draft the policy told a conference on alcohol-related brain injury that footballers drink less frequently than other men their age, but when they do, they "go really hard".Dr Pippa Grange - manager of psychology, people and culture with the AFL Players' Association - advised clubs on how to avoid trouble by teaching players to drink responsibly.Each club will be free to draft their own rules around alcohol, but should adhere to four principles outlined by the AFL - raising awareness of alcohol harm, reducing risky consumption, minimising risky drinking environments and player welfare.Dr Grange said this could mean end-of-season celebrations were located at a private party rather than in a public bar. Or that club officials make sure players eat before drinking and are supplied with taxi vouchers to get home.She said it was often a matter of how players reacted to other drinkers. "It's not always about the players starting trouble. If players are noticing attention in a pub, what do they do to move their mates away from that rather than add fuel to the fire? It's about minimising situations of risk."The conference, run by arbias and Brain Injury Australia, also heard a generation of young drinkers was risking permanent brain damage.Neuropsychologist Martin Jackson of La Trobe University said new research showed that six standard drinks on one occasion once a week for 12 months was enough to cause a brain injury in teenagers.Deputy Chief Magistrate Jelena Popovic told the conference learner drivers should be required to sit drink-driving education courses before getting their licence. She also wants P-plate drivers to sit the courses before being granted the privileges of a full licence.
© 2008 The Age